In recent weeks, as I listen to my colleagues, I’m amazed by the comments I hear in response to the state’s financial crisis. I hear things like; “This ship is going to sink,” or “I have no answers, no ideas, no advice.” Seriously, these are real quotes from legislators. Others have said we are going to “punt the ball again” or “kick the can down the road again.” If these statements have not made it very clear to you that the intentions of many legislators is to DO NOTHING, look at this quote from one Democrat Representative who actually said, “We are not going to do anything until after the election in November.”
Getting Illinois’ financial house in order and putting people back to work must be the priority of every legislator in Springfield. We cannot afford to DO NOTHING.
Why are our legislators saying this? Are they truly not smart enough to know what can be done to balance the budget? I believe that many of them are simply unwilling to make the tough decisions necessary, like cutting the programs that got them the votes at election time and have kept them in office for years. Politics clouds the minds of many legislators and makes them incapable of implementing common sense principles needed to balance the budget, protect citizens, and create jobs.
Getting Illinois’ financial house in order and putting people back to work must be the priority of every legislator in Springfield. We cannot afford to DO NOTHING.
Wouldn’t it be revolutionary if legislators made the tough choices in order to prove they were worthy of the office they hold and/or wish to hold? Real leadership can be demonstrated by doing what is right, by urgently providing answers to our state’s financial crisis, by improving the business environment that puts people back to work and by reducing spending so that government begins to live within its means. This is the kind of candidate the people of Illinois are looking to support.
THERE IS HOPE FOR ILLINOIS, if we do what’s right. Since my appointment to the Senate one year ago, I have and will continue to be part of the solution to turn our state around, to fight for a balanced budget, to improve the business climate that puts people back to work, and to ensure that Illinois State Government lives within its means just like your family and mine are required to do.
In my travels, visits and discussions with citizens around the 51st District, it’s clear to me the people of Illinois – regardless of party affiliation – are looking for candidates who will stand up and do what’s right, not politicians who will do nothing.